The Egyptian Prime Minister's Office confirmed on Saturday morning that a Russian passenger plane had crashed in the Sinai desert.
Egyptian air traffic control said earlier it had lost contact with the civilian airliner carrying 224 passengers and crew shortly after it took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to head to Russia.
According to radar, the plane had been travelling at around 400 kilometers an hour before plummeting to 93 kilometers an hour in one second. Contact was then lost.
According to a security officer at the scene, the aircraft was completely destroyed and there were likely no survivors.
